This thesis is an historical-sociological coverage of crime in North-west Queensland from 1925 to 1950. Since all criminological models essentially reflect the needs of society at any point in time, it is imperative to see crime figures in the social continuum in which they occur. This thesis examines the compositional diversity of remote communities, according to their industrial and locational base, and it challenges their subsumption under the general term "rural."

Attitudes of these communities were polarised during the crises periods of the Great Depression and World War II, during which time the north-west was subject to an unprecedented influx of itinerants - black and white. The structure of these communities was not only defined by stated feelings during these pressure times but also by the hierarchy of wealth, with associated power, entrenched in the communities. Class and racial bias are clearly discernible in court records up to the 1950's, with a variation according to the type of structure of the community.

The relationship between alcohol-dependence and violence is specifically linked with demographic factors, the economy-base, and social relationships. In contrast, sexual crimes are basically power-triggered, and they proliferated in unmonitored situations. Women's theories generally are upheld with regard to class-differentiation in the north-west, but it is clear that, as an integral part of the operating mechanism of properties, upper class women played a far more functional role in society than their metropolitan counterparts. This again highlights the danger of homogenising the status of all groups across a broad spectrum.

While not negating individual determinism in crime commission, the importance of the nexus between environmental context and crime commission emerges clearly in the study. This is formulated as an environment-dislocation catalyst theory which emphasizes the interaction of the individual within society and the self-adjustment of that individual within society, as critical factors in the commission of crime.